At some sections of the High Line Canal corridor, which spans 71 miles across 11 jurisdictions in Colorado, an enemy has taken root.
Russian olive is an invasive species that spreads aggressively and deprives native species of important resources like water, according to Julia Clover Clark, natural resources manager at the High Line Canal Conservancy.
“We don’t want the canal to become a vector for Russian olive to spread throughout open spaces,” she said.
With a recent $41,100 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, the High Line Canal Conservancy will continue efforts to rid the canal of the invasive species. Working with the Mile High Youth Corps, they will spend four weeks eliminating Russian olive along the corridor in Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village.
“It’s just such an exciting opportunity because not only (does) it allow us to get out there and do this important work of mitigating Russian olive along the corridor, but it really aligns with our values to be able to have a partnership with (the youth corps),” Clark said.
Conservation Service Corps Grant Program
Great Outdoors Colorado invests Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces, according to its website.
Its Conservation Service Corps grant program provides funding for Colorado municipalities, counties and non-profit land conservation organizations to hire conservation service corps for outdoor recreation and natural resource stewardship projects, according to its website.
“What attracts people to the state is having world-class recreation opportunities,” said director of programs Chris Yuan-Farrell. “But without the proper stewardship… a lot of these places could fall into disrepair, and they wouldn’t be attractive for recreation any longer.”
The grant program is implemented in partnership with the Colorado Youth Corps Association, a coalition of eight accredited conservation service corps that employ and train people aged 14-25 in the natural resource sector.
“(The association) is really impacting two main, very important areas — which is preserving and stewarding our public lands across Colorado, and also helping train and build the next generation of environmentalists and stewards,” said Brandon Watkins, associate director at the association.
Watkins said his team received 43 grant applications for the Conservation Service Corps program this year and funded 23.
Past and future of the canal
Last year, the High Line Canal Conservancy also received the grant, which it used to started Russian olive mitigation along 20 miles of the canal corridor. This pilot project covered parts of the corridor in Denver, unincorporated Arapahoe County, Centennial and Greenwood Village during the summer of 2022. At the end of that project, a 5.5 mile gap between the project areas remained.
This year, their work will address the gap.
“After (the corps’) work is completed, there will be 27 continuous miles (with no Russian olive),” Clark said.
Claire Morrissy, the Denver regional manager of land conservation at Mile High Youth Corps, said trained chainsaw crews will cut down the trees, apply pesticide to the stumps to prevent regrowth, remove tree debris and update the conservancy’s GIS tracking systems.
The grant money will go towards the crew members’ wages, tools, trainings and other program expenses, Morrissy said.
As the conservancy works towards a new life for the canal as a recreational resource, Morissy is excited for her corps members to be a part of it.
“I think this transformation that the canal is going to undergo is going to be felt across so many communities in metro Denver,” she said. “And so for our corps members to be able to make a mark on what I think is going to be this really significant, recreational and environmental improvement project — I hope they find a lot of meaning in it because I think that’s really exciting.”